Cultural Safaris

Tanzania is endowed with authentic and rare cultures that is endemic. The way of life of Tanzanian People is unique and different from norms,ceremonies customs and all other aspects make cultural tourism being essential part of tourism industry. We will take you to the places where you will have time to recall the lives dated back centuries before modernization from Hunting & Gathering Life Style, Pastoral Life, Mixed Cultures, Tour cover special adventure on folklore, scenery, arts and crafts, rituals, dances, ceremonies and local warmth of Tanzania to offer an exceptional insight into the everyday lives of the locals, at the same time permitting them to acknowledge the wildlife that Tanzania has to offer.

This part of tourism will leave you with exceptional memories and lesson on how environment shape culture and how culture determine our way of living, thinking and history.

As culture evolve over the time we welcome you to test and share the authentic life style of forgotten and modern cultures in Tanzania.

THE MASAI

The Maasai People are one of the most famous Cultural Adherence tribe in Tanzania. They originate from Nile Valley in which makes them fall under Nilotics language Family. They occupied the East African Rift Valley from Northern Kenya to Tanzania in Arusha and Manyara Regions. Their famous for Cultural Tourism. Teir main activity is Livestock Keeping. Traditionally nomadic herders and warriors live in northern Tanzania and southern Kenya in the vast open spaces of the Great Rift Valley, sometimes called ” Maasailand.”

Despite the fact that Maasai society is currently facing many social, political and economic challenges; they have a history of being able to adapt to changing conditions. Their strong traditional customs and way of life allow them to live in harmony with their beloved surroundings, and now cultural tourism programs are encouraging residents to share their values and customs with others.

Maasai cultural encounters are relatively new in northern Tanzania. The best way to experience and learn about Masai life is to visit Maasai communities and to walk and hike through Maasailand us.

Experience the awe and excitement of being on safari with Tanganyika Ancient Routes by going beyond the search for the Big Five – buffalo, rhino, elephant, leopard and lion.

HADZABE –TANZANIA BUSHMEN

Hadzabe People are nomadic life style tribe in Northern Tanzania. They occupied rift valley demarcations of the Lake Eyasi Basin and south part of Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCAA). They live life dated back to 10,000 years ago. Hunting and Gathering of wild animals and fruits is their main activities. They live in small groups in different locations depend on the seasons for either animals migrations or fruits availability. They tends to move from one place to the other in small thatched camps or caves or under big trees. Their language is characterized with “click” sounds like Khosian of South Africa-Khosian of Kalahari Desert and Sandawe People of central Tanzania. Their main food is animals especially baboons and velvet monkeys.. Honey and fruits from the bush.

They live in same area moving around Lake Eyasi from Yaeda Chini Valley to Kisimangeda and Olpiro Areas. They live communal life where no one is powerfully over the other.

You want to dance and stay for some days with Maasai and Hadzabe ?

OR

Imagine being able to go on a hunt with Tanzania’s last nomadic hunter gatherer tribe!

THE DATOGA TRIBE – CULTURAL EXPERIENCE

Datoga people also known as the Mang’ati in Swahili, are agro-pastoral nomadic Nilotic speaking people living in Singida and Manyara Region of north central Tanzania near Mt. Hanang, Lake Basotu, and Lake Eyasi. The Datoga occupies, precisely, the areas around the Rift Valley in the regions of Arusha, Sangida, Dodoma, Shinyanga, Tabora and Mara. About 70% are found in the present Hanang and Mbulu district Arusha (Manyara) Region.

THE CHAGGA -TRIBE OF KILIMANJARO

At the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, outside the entrance to Kilimanjaro National Park, lie the beautiful towns of Mamba and Marangu. Here, local people of the Wachagga tribe have planned walking tours through valleys and waterfalls depicting mountain village life. We will be more than happy to arrange a custom made tour to satisfy your preference if you wish to focus on certain aspects.

Now numbering over a million, the Chagga occupy the southern and eastern slopes of the Kilimanjaro and are among East Africa’s wealthiest and most highly educated people. Their wealth, and that of Moshi, stems from the fortunate conjunction of favorable climatic conditions with their own agricultural ingenuity.

Watered by year round snow and ice melt, the volcanic soils of Kilimanjaro’s lower slopes are extremely fertile and are exploited by the Chagga using a sophisticated system of intensive irrigation methods and continuous fertilization with animal manure which permits year round cultivation and supports one of Tanzania’s highest human population densities. Arabica coffee has been the Chagga’s primary cash crop since colonial times, although maize and bananas remain staple foods. The cultivation of bananas is traditionally a man’s work, as is that of eleusine seed (ulezi), which is boiled and mixed with mashed plantain to brew a local beer (umbege or mbega) that is still used in traditional ceremonies and as a form of payment to elders in their role as arbiters in conflicts.

In the past, the potential for such conflicts was great: even today there are some four hundred different Chagga clans – indeed it’s barely a century since the Chagga finally coalesced into a distinct and unified tribe. Most are related to the Kamba of Kenya, who migrated northwards from Kilimanjaro a few centuries ago during a great drought. Other clans descend from the Taita, another Kenyan tribe, and others from the pastoral Maasai, whose influence is visible in the importance attached to cattle as bride wealth payments and in the grouping of men into age-sets analogous to the Maasai system.

Today, the Chagga wield considerable political and financial clout, both because of their long contact with European models of education and Christianity, both of which dominate modern-day political and economic life, and because of their involvement in the coffee business, which remains the region’s economic mainstay in spite of volatile world prices. Indeed, the Chagga are the one tribe you’re almost guaranteed to meet in even the most obscure corners of Tanzania, working as traders, merchants, officials, teachers and doctors.

Magnificent views of valleys and waterfalls offer great entertainment for nature lovers and bird watchers. With more than seven waterfalls in the vicinity one can spend a whole day enjoying the picture postcard views. Walking tours will provide amazing views overlooking the area including points where the lights of Nairobi can be seen at night. Walking through the well maintained coffee and banana fields is a pleasure. Visits to tree, flower and fruit nurseries help to portray mountain life and give guests the chance to see a wide range of unique flora and fauna.

A morning visit to the ancient sites in the Makundi area recalls clan wars and historic legends. You can enter the Laka Holes, large hiding caves which were used to protect women and children during the Maasai-Chagga Wars. Visitors will actually get to see blacksmiths who still use traditional methods to prepare spears and tools used by Maasai people today! A local woodcarving school allows visitors to meet a skilled teacher who is one of the oldest active members within the community.

Mountain climbing enthusiasts will be delighted to visit the home and memorial of the late Yohano Lauwo, a Marangu native who accompanied Dr. Hans Meyer on the first recorded climb of Kilimanjaro in 1889. He lived for an astonishing 124 years and guided treks up the mountain at the edge of 70 years! Walking tours through Marangu also offer breathtaking scenery. You can visit Kinukamori, Moonjo or Mteshane waterfall depending on your physical condition.

You can learn more about the Chagga culture by visiting a traditional Chagga house with straw roof. You can walk through the Chief Mangi area where the first court and primary school of the Northern region are still functioning. At the Kilema Roman catholic mission, you can see the first coffee tree planted in Tanzania by an Irish missionary 100 years ago. Kilimanjaro area is now one of the leading coffee producers in the country. A light climb up Ngangu hill with its fantastic view is a pleasure. On clear days the snow of Kibo Peak is so close, the plains so wide and the Pare Mountains to grab.

THE IRAQW

The Iraqw are of Cushitic origin and live in the central highlands of Mbulu. Known for their statuesque and immobile posture and sharply defined features, they are a withdrawn people who grow their own food and tend their cattle – selling off crops or animals only when it is strictly necessary.

The Iraqw, known as the Mbulu in Swahili, are a Cushitic people of the Arusha and Manyara Regions of north-central Tanzania, near the Rift Valley wall and south of Ngorongoro Crater.

In 2001 the Mbulu population was estimated to number 462,000The Iraqw language belongs to the South Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family.

The language is distinctive from their Bantu and Nilotic neighbors and resembles an Arabic sound. The areas surrounding Karatu town in Arusha region is Iraqw homeland and visitors can witness their locally developed intensive cultivation techniques.

Traditionally in conflict with the Maasai, Iraqw homesteads included underground tunnels – aasimo – in which to hide. Visitors can see these elaborate structures during a visit to the Karatu area.The core area of the Iraqw is Iraqw’ar Da/aw (or Mama Issara) in the Mbulu Highlands.

It has long been known for its locally developed intensive cultivation, and referred to as an “island” within a matrix of less intensive cultivation.

The areas surrounding Karatu Town in the Arusha Region are also predominantly settled by the Iraqw.

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